N400- Am I eligible for US Citizenship?

[usgc2006]

Hi everyone,

I became Permanent Resident in October 2006.

Here's my case:


(October - November 2006)
Stayed in the US for almost a month

(Nov 2006 - Oct 2010)
Took a Re-Entry permit: Stayed Overseas for 2 years to continue college. After the Re-Entry Permit expires, I went back and forth to US but trip only lasted for a 2 weeks because studies. I graduated college on 2010 so went to the US to stay permanently.

My start date for counting continuous residence is Oct 2010.


Date left US Date Returned US Total Days outside US

12/27/2014 - 01/22/2015 <6 mos = 26 days

10/09/2012 - 03/03/2013 <6 mos = 144 days

10/03/2011 - 03/11/2012 <6 mos = 159 days

11/16/2009 - 10/23/2010 >6 mos = 340 days


I'm having problems regarding the last entry on the table. I know I want to start my counting from Oct 2o1o onwards but I can't just place the Oct 2010 US Returned date without the date I left the US which is Nov 2009. It troubles me because it will show that I stayed out of the US for almost a a year and I read mostly in the forum that when you exceed 6 months, the continuous residence will be broken. They say that I'm eligible for the 4yrs + 1day because I stayed over 1yr outside the US and I'm resident since Oct 2006.

Can someone help me to apply the 4yrs + 1 rule in the N-400 application and do I have a chance of being approved? Or is better for me to wait until August 2015 ( which is the Oct 2015 - 90 days)?

*I know it's super long, I just want to make it precise in explaining my case. Thank you so much for your time in reading this. Hope someone will help me to solve my case.

 

[newacct]

There's conflicting information about whether the 4 years+1 day rule applies to absences of between 6 months and 1 year or not. I'm of the opinion that it should, but some people think it doesn't.

 

[usgc2006]

Oh, I'm not sure about the 4 years+1 day rule. I'm not familiar with it but that's just what I heard. And now I'm thinking if I applied this Feb 2015, will I be approved or not because I stayed overseas for 11 months and I can't show proofs of ties such as paid taxes etc.

 

[newacct]

Whether you maintained ties matters for whether you lose your permanent residence, but you didn't lose it as they let you back in. You could also use ties to argue that you didn't break continuous residence, but you are not arguing that -- you are accepting that you broke continuous residence. So it doesn't really matter.

If you left the U.S. for more than a year, then the regulations are clear that you can apply 4 years + 1 day after coming back. But since you left for less than a year, it's unclear whether you can do that, or whether you have to wait until 5 years - 90 days.